Abstract
Programmed cell death or apoptosis is a central biological process that is dysregulated in many diseases, including inflammatory conditions and cancer. The detection and quantification of ...apoptotic cells in vivo is hampered by the need for fixatives or washing steps for non-fluorogenic reagents, and by the low levels of free calcium in diseased tissues that restrict the use of annexins. In this manuscript, we report the rational design of a highly stable fluorogenic peptide (termed
Apo-15
) that selectively stains apoptotic cells in vitro and in vivo in a calcium-independent manner and under wash-free conditions. Furthermore, using a combination of chemical and biophysical methods, we identify phosphatidylserine as a molecular target of
Apo-15
. We demonstrate that
Apo-15
can be used for the quantification and imaging of drug-induced apoptosis in preclinical mouse models, thus creating opportunities for assessing the in vivo efficacy of anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer therapeutics.
Large production volumes of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONP) might be anticipated to pose risks, of accidental inhalation in occupational and even in consumer settings. Herein, we further ...investigated the pathological changes induced by ZnONP and their possible mechanism of action.
Two doses of ZnONP (50 and 150 cm2/rat) were intratracheally instilled into the lungs of rats with assessments made at 24 h, 1 wk, and 4 wks after instillation to evaluate dose- and time-course responses. Assessments included bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid analysis, histological analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and IgE and IgA measurement in the serum and BAL fluid. To evaluate the mechanism, alternative ZnONP, ZnONP-free bronchoalveolar lavage exudate, and dissolved Zn2+ (92.5 μg/rat) were also instilled to rats. Acridine orange staining was utilized in macrophages in culture to evaluate the lysosomal membrane destabilization by NP.
ZnONP induced eosinophilia, proliferation of airway epithelial cells, goblet cell hyperplasia, and pulmonary fibrosis. Bronchocentric interstitial pulmonary fibrosis at the chronic phase was associated with increased myofibroblast accumulation and transforming growth factor-β positivity. Serum IgE levels were up-regulated by ZnONP along with the eosinophilia whilst serum IgA levels were down-regulated by ZnONP. ZnONP are rapidly dissolved under acidic conditions (pH 4.5) whilst they remained intact around neutrality (pH 7.4). The instillation of dissolved Zn2+ into rat lungs showed similar pathologies (eg., eosinophilia, bronchocentric interstitial fibrosis) as were elicited by ZnONP. Lysosomal stability was decreased and cell death resulted following treatment of macrophages with ZnONP in vitro.
We hypothesise that rapid, pH-dependent dissolution of ZnONP inside of phagosomes is the main cause of ZnONP-induced diverse progressive severe lung injuries.
The unique hazard posed to the pleural mesothelium by asbestos has engendered concern in potential for a similar risk from high aspect ratio nanoparticles (HARN) such as carbon nanotubes. In the ...course of studying the potential impact of HARN on the pleura we have utilised the existing hypothesis regarding the role of the parietal pleura in the response to long fibres. This review seeks to synthesise our new data with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) with that hypothesis for the behaviour of long fibres in the lung and their retention in the parietal pleura leading to the initiation of inflammation and pleural pathology such as mesothelioma. We describe evidence that a fraction of all deposited particles reach the pleura and that a mechanism of particle clearance from the pleura exits, through stomata in the parietal pleura. We suggest that these stomata are the site of retention of long fibres which cannot negotiate them leading to inflammation and pleural pathology including mesothelioma. We cite thoracoscopic data to support the contention, as would be anticipated from the preceding, that the parietal pleura is the site of origin of pleural mesothelioma. This mechanism, if it finds support, has important implications for future research into the mesothelioma hazard from HARN and also for our current view of the origins of asbestos-initiated pleural mesothelioma and the common use of lung parenchymal asbestos fibre burden as a correlate of this tumour, which actually arises in the parietal pleura.
Different particle types cause excessive lung inflammation that is thought to play a role in the various types of pathology they produce. Recently attention has been focused on nanoparticles due to ...their presence in environmental particulate air pollution, their use and exposure in occupational settings, and their potential use in nanotechnology and novel therapeutics. We have shown previously that the surface area metric drives the overload response. We have instilled a number of low-toxicity dusts of various particle sizes and assessed neutrophil influx into the lung at 18-24 h postinstillation. The extent of inflammation was demonstrated as being a function not of the mass dose instilled but interestingly of the surface area dose instilled. Since low-toxicity nanoparticles present a "special" case of high surface area, they are relatively inflammogenic. We tested whether we could use this approach to model the reactivity of highly toxic dusts. Rats were instilled with either DQ12 quartz or aluminum lactate-treated DQ12 and, as anticipated, the high specific surface toxicity of DQ12 meant that it was much more inflammogenic (63 times more) than the surface area alone would have predicted. By contrast, aluminum lactate-treated DQ12 fell into the line of "low-toxicity" dusts. In addition, as an in vitro testing alternative to that of in vivo testing, interleukin (IL)-8 production in A549 cells exposed to the panel of various particles clearly demonstrated the ability to also identify a relationship between surface area dose and reactivity. These approaches present the possibility of modelling potential toxicity of nanoparticles and nuisance dusts based on the inflammatory response of a given instilled surface area dose.
The toxicology of nanoparticles (NPs) is an area of intense investigation that would be greatly aided by improved understanding of the relationship between NP structure and inflammogenicity. To ...evaluate how their physicochemical parameters influence toxicity, we assembled a panel of 15 metal/metal oxide NPs and attempted to relate various physicochemical parameters, including zeta potential (ζP) and solubility, to lung inflammogenicity. The acute pulmonary inflammogenicity of the 15 NPs showed a significant correlation with one of two structural parameters-ζP under acid conditions for low-solubility NPs and solubility to toxic species for high-solubility NPs. ζP is the electrical potential created between the surface of a particle, with its associated ions, and the medium it exists in and provides information concerning the particle surface charge. We suggest that inside the phagolysosome under acid conditions, a high positive ζP may allow NPs to damage the integrity of the phagolysosomal membrane leading to inflammation. In the case of high-solubility NPs, inflammogenicity depends on the ions that are produced during dissolution of NP inside the acidic phagolysosomes; if the ions are toxic, then phagolysosomes will be destabilized and cause inflammation. These two parameters may have utility in preliminary assessment of the potential lung inflammation hazard of the large number of NPs that require testing.
In all branches of toxicology, the biologically effective dose (BED) is the fraction of the total dose of a toxin that actually drives any toxic effect. Knowledge of the BED has a number of ...applications including in building structure-activity relationships, the selection of metrics, the design of safe particles, and the determination of when a nanoparticle (NP) can be considered to be "new" for regulatory purposes. In particle toxicology, we define the BED as "the entity within any dose of particles in tissue that drives a critical pathophysiogically relevant form of toxicity (e.g., oxidative stress, inflammation, genotoxicity, or proliferation) or a process that leads to it." In conventional chemical toxicology, researchers generally use the mass as the metric to describe dose (such as mass per unit tissue or cells in culture) because of its convenience. Concentration, calculated from mass, may also figure in any description of dose. In the case of a nanoparticle dose, researchers use either the mass or the surface area. The mass of nanoparticles is not the only driver of their activity: the surfaces of insoluble particles interact with biological systems, and soluble nanoparticles can release factors that interact with these systems. Nanoparticle shape can modify activity. In this Account, we describe the current knowledge of the BED as it pertains to different NP types. Soluble toxins released by NPs represent one potential indicator of BED for wholly or partially soluble NPs composed of copper or zinc. Rapid dissolution of these NPs into their toxic ions in the acidic environment of the macrophage phagolysosome causes those ions to accumulate, which leads to lysosome destabilization and inflammation. In contrast, soluble NPs that release low toxicity ions, such as magnesium oxide NPs, are not inflammogenic. For insoluble NPs, ζ potential can serve as a BED measurement because the exposure of the particle surface to the acidic milieu of the phagolysosome and interactions with the lysosomal membrane can compromise the integrity of the NPs. Researchers have explored oxidative potential of NPs most extensively as an indicator of the BED: the ability of an NP to cause oxidative stress in cells is a key factor in determining cell toxicity, inflammogenicity, and oxidative DNA adduct formation. Finally we discuss BEDs for high aspect ratio nanoparticles because long fibers or nanoplatelets can cause inflammation and further effects. These consequences arise from the paradoxically small aerodynamic diameter of fibers or thin platelets. As a result, these NPs can deposit beyond the ciliated airways where their extended dimensions prevent them from being fully phagocytosed by macrophages, leading to frustrated phagocytosis. Although knowledge is accumulating on the BED for NPs, many questions and challenges remain in understanding and utilizing this important nanotoxicological parameter.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease is defined by large numbers of neutrophils and associated damaging products in the airway. Delayed neutrophil apoptosis is described in CF although it is unclear ...whether this is a primary neutrophil defect or a response to chronic inflammation. Increased levels of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) have been measured in CF and we aimed to investigate the causal relationship between these phenomena and their potential to serve as a driver of inflammation. We hypothesised that the delay in apoptosis in CF is a primary defect and preferentially allows CF neutrophils to form NETs, contributing to inflammation.
Blood neutrophils were isolated from patients with CF, CF pigs and appropriate controls. Neutrophils were also obtained from patients with CF before and after commencing ivacaftor. Apoptosis was assessed by morphology and flow cytometry. NET formation was determined by fluorescent microscopy and DNA release assays. NET interaction with macrophages was examined by measuring cytokine generation with ELISA and qRT-PCR.
CF neutrophils live longer due to decreased apoptosis. This was observed in both cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) null piglets and patients with CF, and furthermore was reversed by ivacaftor (CFTR potentiator) in patients with gating (G551D) mutations. CF neutrophils formed more NETs and this was reversed by cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor exposure. NETs provided a proinflammatory stimulus to macrophages, which was enhanced in CF.
CF neutrophils have a prosurvival phenotype that is associated with an absence of CFTR function and allows increased NET production, which can in turn induce inflammation. Augmenting neutrophil apoptosis in CF may allow more appropriate neutrophil disposal, decreasing NET formation and thus inflammation.
The fibrous shape of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) raises concern that they may pose an asbestos-like inhalation hazard, leading to the development of diseases, especially mesothelioma. Direct instillation ...of long and short CNTs into the pleural cavity, the site of mesothelioma development, produced asbestos-like length-dependent responses. The response to long CNTs and long asbestos was characterized by acute inflammation, leading to progressive fibrosis on the parietal pleura, where stomata of strictly defined size limit the egress of long, but not short, fibers. This was confirmed by demonstrating clearance of short, but not long, CNT and nickel nanowires and by visualizing the migration of short CNTs from the pleural space by single-photon emission computed tomographic imaging. Our data confirm the hypothesis that, although a proportion of all deposited particles passes through the pleura, the pathogenicity of long CNTs and other fibers arises as a result of length-dependent retention at the stomata on the parietal pleura.
This study investigated the uptake, kinetics and cellular distribution of different surface coated quantum dots (QDs) before relating this to their toxicity. J774.A1 cells were treated with organic, ...COOH and NH
2 (PEG) surface coated QDs (40 nM). Model 20 nm and 200 nm COOH-modified coated polystyrene beads (PBs) were also examined (50 μg ml
−
1
). The potential for uptake of QDs was examined by both fixed and live cell confocal microscopy as well as by flow cytometry over 2 h. Both the COOH 20 nm and 200 nm PBs were clearly and rapidly taken up by the J774.A1 cells, with uptake of 20 nm PBs being relatively quicker and more extensive. Similarly, COOH QDs were clearly taken up by the macrophages. Uptake of NH
2 (PEG) QDs was not detectable by live cell imaging however, was observed following 3D reconstruction of fixed cells, as well as by flow cytometry. Cells treated with organic QDs, monitored by live cell imaging, showed only a small amount of uptake in a relatively small number of cells. This uptake was insufficient to be detected by flow cytometry. Imaging of fixed cells was not possible due to a loss in cell integrity related to cytotoxicity. A significant reduction (
p
<
0.05) in the fluorescent intensity in a cell-free environment was found with organic QDs, NH
2 (PEG) QDs, 20 nm and 200 nm PBs at pH 4.0 (indicative of an endosome) after 2 h, suggesting reduced stability. No evidence of exocytosis was found over 2 h. These findings confirm that surface coating has a significant influence on the mode of NP interaction with cells, as well as the subsequent consequences of that interaction.
Neutrophils are the most abundant cell type involved in the innate immune response. They are rapidly recruited to sites of injury or infection where they engulf and kill invading microorganisms. ...Neutrophil apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death that prevents the release of neutrophil histotoxic contents, is tightly regulated and limits the destructive capacity of neutrophil products to surrounding tissue. The subsequent recognition and phagocytosis of apoptotic cells by phagocytic cells such as macrophages is central to the successful resolution of an inflammatory response and it is increasingly apparent that the dying neutrophil itself exerts an anti-inflammatory effect through modulation of surrounding cell responses, particularly macrophage inflammatory cytokine release. Apoptosis may be delayed, induced or enhanced by micro-organisms dependent on their immune evasion strategies and the health of the host they encounter. There is now an established field of research aimed at understanding the regulation of apoptosis and its potential as a target for therapeutic intervention in inflammatory and infective diseases. This review focuses on the physiological regulation of neutrophil apoptosis with respect to the innate immune system and highlights recent advances in mechanistic understanding of apoptotic pathways and their therapeutic manipulation in appropriate and excessive innate immune responses.
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